Apparatus for making waistbands for trousers



NW 129 1957 R, w, DU VAL 2,812,733

APPARATUS FOR MAKING WAISTBANDS FOR TROUSERS Filed Aug. 30, 1954INVENTOR.

2,812,733 Patented Nov. 12, 1957 APPARATUS FOR MAKING WAISTBANDS FORTROUSERS Ronald W. Du Val, Shreveport, La.

Application August 30, 1954, Serial No. 452,780 3 Claims. c1. 112 2 Thepresent invention pertains to the forming of waistbands for trousers bycontinuous stitching and of simultaneously stitching belt loops thereto.

The principal object of the invention is the provision of a slackforming arm arranged to permit. slack in the belt loop when it is sewedto the band so that when the band is finally folded upon. itself andattached to. the trousers, the upper, stitched end. of the belt loopswill be hidden on the inner side of the folded band, the slack in theloop permitting it then to lie in. a fiat, contiguous plane against theband surface without pinching or wrinkling.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a top feed mechanismwhereby any number of plies or folds of cloth may be fed and stitchedthrough the machine without wrinkling or slipping upon each other.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a pair oflaterally spaced, flexible belts and a means of guiding the same to bearpressure upon the layer or layers of the material being sewed and ofdriving the belts simultaneously with the same. lineal speed as the feedrolls of the machine.

Other objects andadvantages of the invention will become apparent in thecourse of the following detailed description with the accompanyingdrawing in which:

Fig. l is a side view of amachine including my attachment for makingwaistbands and of stitching belt loops thereto.

Pig. 2 is a plan View, more or less diagrammatical form, showing themanner of folding the. curtain material upon the band and spacing thebelt loops therein for stitching. Curtain material, as known to thegarment trade, is that portion of material added to the inside of a pairof trousers at the waist line in order to reinforce the same againstwear and to lend stiffness to the final gar ment to prevent wrinkling.

Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 are sectional views taken along corresponding linesof Fig. 1 and showing progressive steps of the folding of the curtainmaterial upon the band and the manner of forming slack in the belt loop.

Fig. 7 is an isometric view illustrating a section of the completed bandfolded upon itself and of the position of the belt loop.

In the drawing numeral 10 designates a stitching head of the commercialtype of sewing machine. AfiiXed to the stitching head of the machine bymounting screws 11 is a slack forming rod 12 projecting outwardly fromthe head, as shown, and bent upon itself, with its opposite endterminating beneath the presser foot 13. As shown in Fig. 5, the presserfoot 13 is also provided with spaced grooves 14 and 15 together with acentral slot 16.

To the rear of the machine and beneath the feed line of the material isthe conventional feed roll 17 geared to the machine proper. Spaced abovethis feed roll 17 I have provided a pair of idler rolls 18 and 19, eachof which is provided with a groove similar to a conventional V-beltpulley. Fig. 1 discloses a pair of endless belts 28, one positioned oneach side of the slack forming arm 12 and passed through the respectivegrooves 14 and 15 of the 2 presser foot and on to the grooved. pulley oridler wheels 18 and 19., A support and guide rod 20 is affixed to themachine head and serves to support the weight of the belts to keep themfrom folding down upon the machine head.

Fig. 2 illustrates the manner of the forming and continuous stitching ofthe waistbands. The curtain material is contained in a roll 22 woundupon a spool at the front of the machine. The material 21 is passed overa former 2 3 which folds it in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3. Thisformer 23 consists in a thin sheet of hardened and polished steel fixedto the top of the table on which the machine is mounted and has one ofits side edges curved upon itself in the manner illustrated in Fig. 3 sothat when the curtain material is pulled across the same by thestitching mechanism, the same will be automatically folded as indicatedin Fig. 4. The bands, indicated by numeral 24, are provided withpreviously cut notches 25 which: indicate the position or location of abelt loop 26. An edge of the band is. placed within the fold of thecurtain material manually and also a belt loop is laid within the foldat each notch on the band.

Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 illustrate successive steps in the simultaneousstitching of the band, curtain and belt loops. In Fig. 3 the curtainmaterial 21 is shown being folded upon itself by the former 23. Apre-cut and pre-notched band 24 is then. placed on the machine tablewith the inner edge.-

abutting aligning stops 27. The machine operator then places a belt loopupon the entering notch of the band and within the fold of the-curtain.It will be noted, however, that the band is fed beneath the slackformingarm 12, while the belt loop is laid across the same. As the belts28 bear pressureupon the assembled pieces thus formed, a cross sectionof the assembly will assume the shape shown in Fig. 4 which is justprior to stitching.

In Fig. 4 the moving belts 28 draw the assembly beneath the presser foot13, still bearing pressure upon the assem bly, yet drawing it evenly andwithout side play. The slot 16 in the presser foot permits the slackforming arm 12 to hold a predetermined amount of slack in the belt loopeven while being stitched. As. the belt loop 26. passes underneath thestitching head 10 as illustrated in Fig. 5, one end is sewed to thewaistband 24 while the other end is. sewed to both the. Waistband 24 andthe curtain material 21. Fig. 6 illustrates the last step in thestitching of the belt loop, the band and the curtain; and illustratesthe feed roll 17 drawing the continuous strip through the machine. Fig.2 illustrates the conventional manner of feeding the continuous stripupon a receiving roll 29. The rotatable shaft 30 of this roll 29 isusually rotated by some power mechanism connected with the machineproper so as to properly receive the strip of completed waistbands.

The rolls of completed waistbands are subsequently trimmed and placed inmatching bundles for stitching to trousers.

Fig. 7 illustrates a section of the finished band which has been foldedand stitched to a section of a trouser leg. It is well known that in thefolding of any material, whether of cloth, metal or any other, that anallowance should be made for the bend, especially if the material isrelatively thick and the bend is more than degrees. Since I haveprovided the exact amount of slack for the bend, the belt loops 25 lieflat and even against the band 24 with the upper, stitched end beingcompletely folded over and hidden on the inside. The slack forming arm12 may be ad+ justed for height to permit any desired slack in the finalloop. In former devices for stitching belt loops no allowance has beenat all in the loop for the: bend. Consequently, in the final folding ofthe waistband, the loops are not only uneven but tend to pull and pleatthe band and present a situation of poor workmanship and a feeling ofdiscomfort to the wearer.

Not only does my invention provide a speedy method of making waistbands,but it sewing any fine material on the bias. It is well known that withthe invention of many modern fine fabrics, the problem has also arisenas to how to feed and sew the material without injury and with absolutesmoothness. It is readily seen that with my invention, the steadypressure of the feed belts 28, over a considerable length of thematerial, is certainly more to be desired than the conventional serratedmetal feed which ruptures the threads of the fine fabrics. Moreover, theconventional feed tends to pull the fabric to the right or left toeither stretch or gather it While feeding, while my invention in therear guide rolls maintains the two belts in a straight line andatconsiderable distance to the rear of the presser foot, thus eliminatingany tendency of the fabric to pull to one side.

The invention is simple in its construction and operation and may beattached with a minimum of cost to any conventional sewing machine forthe purpose described. While I have described the invention in detail ina particular embodiment, it is to be understood that this has been byway of example only and that constructional changes could be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as definedby the following claims.

I claim:

1. A machine for the continuous sewing of waistbands for trousers andthe simultaneous stitching of belt loops thereon comprising, a doubleneedle presser foot, a pair of belt grooves formed on the bottom face ofsaid presser foot one on each side of the double needles, said presserfoot also provided with a centrally disposed longitudinal recess on thebottom face thereof, a pair of idler wheels positioned rearwardly of thestitching head of said machine, each idler wheel being provided with abelt groove spaced in alignment with its corresponding groove on saidpresser foot, a pair of endless belts encircling the head of saidmachine, said belts passing into the grooves of said presser foot andthe grooves of said rearwardly positioned idler wheels, the depth of allof said aforementioned grooves permitting the belts only to come intocontact with a waistband to draw the same beneath the said needles forstitching, a slack forming arm afiixed to the head of said machine, saidarm being directed into the area defined by the centrally disposedrecess beneath said presser foot but above the waistband being sewed toprovide slack to a belt loop placed across the same while both endsthereof are sewed simultaneously with the waistband.

2. A machine for the continuous sewing of waistbands is also highlydesirable when I for trousers and the simultaneous stitching of beltloops thereon comprising, a double needle presser foot, a pair oflongitudinally disposed belt grooves one on each side of said doubleneedles, said presser foot also provided with a longitudinally andcentrally disposed recess formed on the bottom face thereof, a pair ofidler wheels arranged in proper alignment with the grooves on saidpresser foot, a pair of flexible endless belts encircling said idlerwheels and being passed through respective grooves on said presser foot,said belts being arranged to contact a waistband for drawing the samebeneath said presser foot for stitching, a slack forming arm for thebelt loops comprising a rod afiixed to the head of said machine anddirected into the centrally disposed recess on said presser foot, saidarm being disposed between the needles but above the material beingsewed to provide slack to a belt placed across the same so that the samemay be simultaneously sewed with the waistband.

3. A double needle machine for sewing belt loops to waistbands fortrousers comprising, a presser foot for the stitching head of saidmachine, a pair of grooves formed in the bottom face of said presserfoot and in the direction of sewing, a centrally disposed groove alsoformed on the bottom of said presser foot and extending the length ofthe same, a pair of idler wheels positioned to the rear of saidstitching head, a belt groove in each of said idler wheels, each idlerwheel being spaced in alignment with one of the grooves of said presserfoot, a pair of endless belts passed over said idler wheels and throughrespective grooves in said presser foot, a slack forming arm afiixed tosaid machine at one end and having the other end directed beneath saidpresser foot and into the centrally disposed open area, said belts beingarranged to bear continuous pressure upon the waistband being sewed andupon the ends of a belt loop placed across said slack forming armwhereby said belt loop will be sewed to the waistband with sufficientslack to lie flat when the top portion of the waistband is subsequentlyfolded upon itself.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS577,595 Close Feb. 23, 1897 2,106,536 Rubel et al Jan. 25,1938 2,241,230Wilmoth May 6, 1941 2,674,213 Lopez Apr. 6, 1954 FOREIGN PATENTS 508,129Germany Sept. 27, 1930

